The Monster in the Deep Forest (10)

"Hah... huff..."

The forest path was longer and rougher than ever, but he kept running, panting hard, without once looking back. That was only natural. If he stopped, death was all but certain.

Hurry. I have to tell them. Quickly.

The image of Russo’s party being slaughtered had burned itself into his mind, leaving only one thought behind: he had to tell the others everything he had seen.

The sight was so horrific it still made him wonder if he was dreaming. Worse, it was a shockingly brutal scene that should never have happened in a forest this close to the city.

"Hah!"

And yet something was hot on his heels. Startled by the light, sharp sound of footsteps striking the ground, he whirled around.

There, a black-haired girl was chasing him, her red eyes glinting in the dark. Her whole body was covered in black carapace like armor, and she bared her teeth in a grin as she shifted the spear in her hand into a throwing stance.

"Kyaaaagh!"

The spear flew a moment later, grazing his side and tearing open his clothes as blood sprayed out. He finally tripped over his own legs and went tumbling across the ground with a clatter.

"That’s cold. Abandoning your ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠comrades and running off alone like that."

Lena stepped on his fallen body with one small foot. His clothes tore under her claws, and blood ran, but she didn’t care in the slightest.

"N-no..."

"You should consider yourself lucky. Instead of becoming nourishment, you’ll be receiving a blessing. But it’s obvious at a glance. You’re just like the others, aren’t you? You won’t be able to accept His blessing either."

He forgot the pain and screamed. Lena showed him no mercy, seized his ankle, and started dragging him roughly back toward the forest.

Of course he struggled, shrieking all the while. But he was no match for her strength, and he was dragged across the ground, leaving behind a ragged trail just like the one they had found in the woods earlier.

...

By the time even his screams were swallowed by the forest’s eerie rustling, the woods remained exactly as they had before—restless, vacant, as if nothing at all had happened.

"You’re telling me Ian hasn’t come back?"

"It’s not just Ian. Russo, who went with him, and Donald, the one Russo was chasing, are both missing too. Something’s definitely wrong in that forest."

And as expected, Hex—the information broker in the city who had sent him out—caught wind of the anomaly and rose to his feet with a grave expression.

"This is going to escalate."

Watching Lena look smugly pleased as the captives writhed and screamed while Ascalas’s essence was forcibly infused into them, I accepted my reward and muttered blankly to myself.

The quest I had just completed was to exterminate the intruders who had infiltrated the forest after growing suspicious. The problem was that, now that they had all been wiped out too, the city would no doubt realize something serious was happening in this forest.

"The result of a choice is the chooser’s responsibility."

"Yeah, I know."

I clicked my tongue at Agares’s words. He was right; I had made the choice for the sake of the quest and the reward, after all.

Once a snowball started rolling, there was no stopping it. It would either keep growing or shatter and scatter apart.

"So I’d better prepare."

I looked at the screen. Inside the nest built by the Grand Lord stood countless minions. They were the proof of everything we had accomplished so far.

My forces. From here ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠on, we would keep fighting, and whether we would triumph and grow larger or lose and end there, nothing could guarantee either outcome.

But one thing was certain: I was now one with them.

Their growth was my growth.

"There isn’t a single one with over 60 percent compatibility. Meeting Lena really was a kind of beginner’s buff, huh?"

Convinced that another battle would come soon enough, I checked the units currently under my command. Then ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I let out a dry laugh.

I had hunted beasts, monsters, and humans alike, but there were no others with the high compatibility needed to advance further through Essence Infusion.

I examined the skill the Grand Lord possessed, Essence Infusion. According to its description, compatibility alone wasn’t enough to accept essence while preserving one’s ego.

I had killed a few mercenaries who possessed mana, and some of them had shown compatibility above 50 percent, but they were losers from the very start—defeated by us. There was no way it would be easy to make the losers want us.

I came to a conclusion: just as with Lena, we had to be both terror and salvation at the same time.

"And how exactly am I supposed to do that?"

"If it’s difficult, then for the time being you should simply make the best possible result with what you already have."

"..."

As I lamented, Agares rubbed salt into the wound with his infuriatingly matter-of-fact tone.

After turning all the prey we had caught this time into minions or devouring them, two options appeared before me. It was a choice about what to do next.

For now, we were still roaming the forest and continuing our hunt. Strong enemies were converted into minions in return, while those who couldn’t be turned were used as nourishment.

But naturally, that meant a greater drain on resources. As the number of minions increased, so did the upkeep cost, and active deployment accelerated nourishment consumption even further.

"So you chose force expansion. Are you planning a proper war?"

Even so, I chose hunting. The occasional quests aside, I also had a strong intuition that a major battle was coming soon.

"The city side will definitely come looking, won’t they? If I’m going to subdue them and then attack the city itself, I’ll need a lot of numbers."

"I’d advise you to be careful in your choice. Here’s a hint: sometimes, simply hiding yourself well can bring enormous profit. Do you know the phrase ‘fishing with another man’s battle’?"

"You mean I could let other players tear each other apart and reap the benefits? Unfortunately, we can’t do that. We only get stronger by fighting."

Agares advised caution, but I shook my head.

In the choice process, I had deliberately selected chaos and greed, and so my faction, Ascalas, was built for high risk and high return.

We possessed the ability to subdue enemies, infuse them with essence, and forcibly turn them into allies, as well as the ability to stockpile energy easily through nourishment devouring and storage.

All of that power was tuned entirely toward war and slaughter.

So we couldn’t avoid battle. We had to step forward aggressively.

Above all else, growing stronger through combat was one of the most basic forms of learning almost everything already possessed. If we simply hid and waited for the right moment, we would never be able to overpower enemies who had grown stronger while we remained weak and unable to fight.

"Indeed. A faction made purely of greed grows stronger the more it devours and erodes the world. And once that faction’s power grows, it becomes your power as well. Before long, you’ll be the one staining and consuming this world."

"That’s disgusting."

I set my spoon down and furrowed my brow. It was just a game. I was only playing to get what I wanted...

"Let me know immediately if anything unusual comes up."

I was already used to this by now. Proof of that was right here: I had my phone open to Pandemonium in front of me while I also booted up my computer.

Just as Manager Kim Seok-ju had said, I wanted to raise my personal rank as quickly as possible. Right now, while the first-string pros were on break, it was the perfect time to grind and squeeze out even the smallest advantage.

Enhanced reaction speed, vision, and skill proficiency made this game—one that had slowly become more obligation than pleasure over time—something I could genuinely enjoy again.

"It would be ideal to catch both fish at once, but that’s also the easiest way to lose everything. An unusual development has occurred. One of the scouts you planted in advance seems to have found something."

But just before I selected a character and entered the game, Agares sent me an alert. I clicked my tongue and canceled the game at the cost of the penalty.

On my phone screen, a single goblin minion was hiding high in a tree and keeping watch over the ground below.

"Soldiers?"

Through the goblin minion’s eyes, I zoomed in on the screen and flinched at the sight of armored soldiers crossing the forest path. It hadn’t been that long, and yet they were already moving.

"The reason they’ve come here so heavily armed is obvious. What will you choose now?"

Once again, with a familiar thud, the options spread across the screen. In a sense, the choice had already been made for me.

Swallowing dryly, I made my decision at once. A choice that could not be undone once made, but one that had to be made nonetheless.

"Your minions, whose strength you’ve been stockpiling and whose numbers ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you’ve been increasing for this day, begin to move."

At the same time, the allies who had been frozen like statues and lying dormant all woke in unison and charged toward the enemy. The snowball we had been rolling was now accelerating at full speed.